Which prospects do you want Danny to avoid for the 2016 draft?

[TheSundanceKid]

Dunn with the Nets pick, not as much upside as others and in a position we are stacked at. Same with Murray but I like him more. I'd be happy with Bender or Brown there, Hield if we drop to 5/6. Others like Ellenson and Poeltl we may as well trade down for if we want to draft them.

I haven't got any favoured/loathed picks further down yet.

[PhoSita]

Timothe Luwawu - Awesome athlete but not the best grasp of the English language. Thick accent could cause chemistry issues.

Do we have any examples of players who failed on this basis alone?

[LooseCannon]

It's too early for me to delve too much into draft prospects, but my general rule is to stay away from scorers/shooters who don't or can't play defense.  I also prefer to avoid elite athletes with poor work ethic and low intelligence.

[A Future of Stevens]

I'll break it down by pick.

Nets-
1.) Jaylen Brown - I see so much Terrence Ross in this kid, except without a jumpshot. He just has that feeling of being another extreme athlete who can't really play the game of basketball.

2.) Buddy Hield - Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I just really want the Nets pick to be used in a trade for a star or used on a player who could one day become a star. I don't see the latter truly being an option for Hield. He is a great shooter, but he has so many other issues that I don't really see him developing great. I see his ceiling as like a slightly better defensive JJ reddick. A good player, but not good enough for this opportunity.

3.) Ellenson - 6-10 big who shot 44-45% from the field and 29% from 3 against arguably the easiest defenses he will ever see again. Also the utter lack of defensive ability other than his size.

Mavs Pick (No guards, and lab is already off the board at 15/16)

4.) Valentine - I really want to love this kid, but I can't. I have seen quite a few Michigan State games, and one thing became clear to me. While he has some offensive abilities that I have not seen on the college level from his position, he will probably always be a liability on the defensive end. People praise how he has elevated his defense so much since he came to college, but its still pretty bad. I remember counting on two hands during a specific game how many times he was blown past by irrelevant college players. I see his ceiling as an Evan Turner esque player who is a better 3pt shooter, a worse creator from mid range, and much worse at defense.

5.) Tie between Sabonis with the mavs pick and Stone with the celts.

Sabonis - Just doesn't pass the eye test when I watch him play. I know this will get me burned alive here, but I just don't see what others see in him. Sure he is a decent passer, and he always seems to find the ball, but a significant portion of his shots come from interesting little flip ins and moves around the basket that I don't feel will be successful in the nba. I also question his defensive upside, and the last thing this team needs is another bad defending big.

Stone- I think he is a dinosaur in the current nba. He isn't nearly good enough to make the game shift back to his style of play, and he seems like a completely counter productive fit to what the celtics have been building towards. Also again I question his defensive ability, not just his physical ability but his motor. Would much rather take a flyer on Thon, if for no other reason than the fact that you have to love Thon's intensity. Doesn't seem like the player who you could question his effort.

[alldaboston]

Timothe Luwawu - Awesome athlete but not the best grasp of the English language. Thick accent could cause chemistry issues.

This has to be a joke right?

[PhoSita]

I'll break it down by pick.

Nets-
1.) Jaylen Brown - I see so much Terrence Ross in this kid, except without a jumpshot. He just has that feeling of being another extreme athlete who can't really play the game of basketball.

2.) Buddy Hield - Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I just really want the Nets pick to be used in a trade for a star or used on a player who could one day become a star. I don't see the latter truly being an option for Hield. He is a great shooter, but he has so many other issues that I don't really see him developing great. I see his ceiling as like a slightly better defensive JJ reddick. A good player, but not good enough for this opportunity.

3.) Ellenson - 6-10 big who shot 44-45% from the field and 29% from 3 against arguably the easiest defenses he will ever see again. Also the utter lack of defensive ability other than his size.

Mavs Pick (No guards, and lab is already off the board at 15/16)

4.) Valentine - I really want to love this kid, but I can't. I have seen quite a few Michigan State games, and one thing became clear to me. While he has some offensive abilities that I have not seen on the college level from his position, he will probably always be a liability on the defensive end. People praise how he has elevated his defense so much since he came to college, but its still pretty bad. I remember counting on two hands during a specific game how many times he was blown past by irrelevant college players. I see his ceiling as an Evan Turner esque player who is a better 3pt shooter, a worse creator from mid range, and much worse at defense.

5.) Tie between Sabonis with the mavs pick and Stone with the celts.

Sabonis - Just doesn't pass the eye test when I watch him play. I know this will get me burned alive here, but I just don't see what others see in him. Sure he is a decent passer, and he always seems to find the ball, but a significant portion of his shots come from interesting little flip ins and moves around the basket that I don't feel will be successful in the nba. I also question his defensive upside, and the last thing this team needs is another bad defending big.

Stone- I think he is a dinosaur in the current nba. He isn't nearly good enough to make the game shift back to his style of play, and he seems like a completely counter productive fit to what the celtics have been building towards. Also again I question his defensive ability, not just his physical ability but his motor. Would much rather take a flyer on Thon, if for no other reason than the fact that you have to love Thon's intensity. Doesn't seem like the player who you could question his effort.

We're on pretty much the same page.

I like Sabonis though.  I trust that a guy who was that productive his second year in college, with his variety of skills, will find a way to make it in the league.  Provided he develops a reliable outside shot, he'll have some use unless he's just completely horrendous on defense.

I'd be fine with getting a Hawes / Kaminsky / Olynyk type player with a mid 1st round pick in this draft, and that's how I see Sabonis.

[A Future of Stevens]

I'll break it down by pick.

Nets-
1.) Jaylen Brown - I see so much Terrence Ross in this kid, except without a jumpshot. He just has that feeling of being another extreme athlete who can't really play the game of basketball.

2.) Buddy Hield - Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. I just really want the Nets pick to be used in a trade for a star or used on a player who could one day become a star. I don't see the latter truly being an option for Hield. He is a great shooter, but he has so many other issues that I don't really see him developing great. I see his ceiling as like a slightly better defensive JJ reddick. A good player, but not good enough for this opportunity.

3.) Ellenson - 6-10 big who shot 44-45% from the field and 29% from 3 against arguably the easiest defenses he will ever see again. Also the utter lack of defensive ability other than his size.

Mavs Pick (No guards, and lab is already off the board at 15/16)

4.) Valentine - I really want to love this kid, but I can't. I have seen quite a few Michigan State games, and one thing became clear to me. While he has some offensive abilities that I have not seen on the college level from his position, he will probably always be a liability on the defensive end. People praise how he has elevated his defense so much since he came to college, but its still pretty bad. I remember counting on two hands during a specific game how many times he was blown past by irrelevant college players. I see his ceiling as an Evan Turner esque player who is a better 3pt shooter, a worse creator from mid range, and much worse at defense.

5.) Tie between Sabonis with the mavs pick and Stone with the celts.

Sabonis - Just doesn't pass the eye test when I watch him play. I know this will get me burned alive here, but I just don't see what others see in him. Sure he is a decent passer, and he always seems to find the ball, but a significant portion of his shots come from interesting little flip ins and moves around the basket that I don't feel will be successful in the nba. I also question his defensive upside, and the last thing this team needs is another bad defending big.

Stone- I think he is a dinosaur in the current nba. He isn't nearly good enough to make the game shift back to his style of play, and he seems like a completely counter productive fit to what the celtics have been building towards. Also again I question his defensive ability, not just his physical ability but his motor. Would much rather take a flyer on Thon, if for no other reason than the fact that you have to love Thon's intensity. Doesn't seem like the player who you could question his effort.

We're on pretty much the same page.

I like Sabonis though.  I trust that a guy who was that productive his second year in college, with his variety of skills, will find a way to make it in the league.  Provided he develops a reliable outside shot, he'll have some use unless he's just completely horrendous on defense.

I'd be fine with getting a Hawes / Kaminsky / Olynyk type player with a mid 1st round pick in this draft, and that's how I see Sabonis.

TP for the similarity, but I have to disagree on Sabonis. Notice the 3 players you mentioned as a comp are all 7' or 7'1". I think Sabonis definitely has skill, but I don't see him ever developing into a serious 3 point threat. Also in regards to defense, he was getting a little man handled on defense against Syracuse's bigs, and they have some of the worst offensive bigs in the country. Yet even they were given the green light to try to move Sabonis around. If only he was the size of his father, we wouldn't even be having this conversation lol.

[Smartacus]

Timothe Luwawu - Awesome athlete but not the best grasp of the English language. Thick accent could cause chemistry issues.

Do we have any examples of players who failed on this basis alone?

It's an interesting question, I'd say there have probably been dozens of potentially successful players that never made it to the NBA due to a failure to grasp English.

To be clear though, I'm not saying that Luwauwu wont be able to be a successful NBA player, I'm saying that The Celtics are close enough to a finished product that we need each player to be 100% on board, I'd be nervous adding a potentially high usage player that might not be able to grasp everything Stevens is asking of the team.

Honestly his English isn't even that bad just less refined. In this interview you can clearly hear him string together coherent sentences but he does often revert to simple phrases like "very good" and "very bad". Personally think it's one of the main reasons why Danny took Kelly over Giannis. Obviously Giannis is the better player in a vacuum but would we be the third best team in the east playing Brad Stevens basketball with Antetokoumpo at the point? I'm not so sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBP5tTpREUM

[hwangjini_1]

Timothe Luwawu - Awesome athlete but not the best grasp of the English language. Thick accent could cause chemistry issues.

Do we have any examples of players who failed on this basis alone?

It's an interesting question, I'd say there have probably been dozens of potentially successful players that never made it to the NBA due to a failure to grasp English.

To be clear though, I'm not saying that Luwauwu wont be able to be a successful NBA player, I'm saying that The Celtics are close enough to a finished product that we need each player to be 100% on board, I'd be nervous adding a potentially high usage player that might not be able to grasp everything Stevens is asking of the team.

Honestly his English isn't even that bad just less refined. In this interview you can clearly hear him string together coherent sentences but he does often revert to simple phrases like "very good" and "very bad". Personally think it's one of the main reasons why Danny took Kelly over Giannis. Obviously Giannis is the better player in a vacuum but would we be the third best team in the east playing Brad Stevens basketball with Antetokoumpo at the point? I'm not so sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBP5tTpREUM

honestly, please provide this list. thank you.

by the way, hockey and baseball have figured out how to manage this challenge.

[D Dub]

Timothe Luwawu - Awesome athlete but not the best grasp of the English language. Thick accent could cause chemistry issues.

Do we have any examples of players who failed on this basis alone?

Yao Ming?

Always though he under performed in his prime.   Also never really grasped the language until late in his tenure.   Hard to find real evidence though, if the two are related.

[PhoSita]

Timothe Luwawu - Awesome athlete but not the best grasp of the English language. Thick accent could cause chemistry issues.

Do we have any examples of players who failed on this basis alone?

Yao Ming?

Always though he under performed in his prime.   Also never really grasped the language until late in his tenure.   Hard to find real evidence though, if the two are related.

Yao was still a Hall of Fame player.  I think his feet and ankles had a lot more to do with whatever under-performance there may have been than his issues with the language.

[PhoSita]

Timothe Luwawu - Awesome athlete but not the best grasp of the English language. Thick accent could cause chemistry issues.

Do we have any examples of players who failed on this basis alone?

It's an interesting question, I'd say there have probably been dozens of potentially successful players that never made it to the NBA due to a failure to grasp English.

To be clear though, I'm not saying that Luwauwu wont be able to be a successful NBA player, I'm saying that The Celtics are close enough to a finished product that we need each player to be 100% on board, I'd be nervous adding a potentially high usage player that might not be able to grasp everything Stevens is asking of the team.

I don't think the Celts are really a finished product, except insofar as I think they know how they want to succeed and they have a system in place on both ends to try and achieve that. 

There are a few players on the roster who have proven they can be part of a core group moving forward, but by no means are we at a stage where we need to make draft decisions based on a desire not to disrupt the precise balance of the roster and the locker room or anything like that.

[Celtics18]

Henry Ellenson.

[Celtics4ever]

Poetl - too mechanical, may struggle against NBA players.  Not nasty enough, lacks post moves.  For a guy that big can he protect the rim in the NBA?  I wonder how big of a ceiling he has to improve. 

Bender - playing 13 minutes a game overseas, how will he fare against NBA, and get minutes.   I might take him later but not with our first pick, hopefully some other team picks him.  Does not block shots, does not rebound that well.

I think Ingram has the least wrong with him as a player.   Simmons is an amazing talent but he did not lead LSU a lot and looked passive in the many games I watched.   That he was productive as he was given a lack of intensity speaks volumes about his talent level ( immense) but it makes me worry a bit.   That being said I would take him in a NUC minute.

[SHAQATTACK]

Sabonis








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